“We must love and care for each other as a radical act of resistance. The struggle for liberation is not simply an intellectual pursuit; it is a physical, emotional, and spiritual battle. Hope grows when we come together as a community, when we lean on each other in our shared struggle, and when we recognize that our collective joy is part of our resistance.”
BELL HOOKS, ALL ABOUT LOVE
About
The Community Organized is a rapid-response grantmaking fund that moves philanthropic capital to community-rooted organizations responding to the convergence of systematically engineered hunger, rising prices, and socio-economic instability across the United States.
We pool major gifts and deploy structured grants to vetted frontline partners — mutual aid networks, community fridges, legal aid funds, faith-rooted institutions, and organizers — who are filling the gaps the federal government is creating.
The C.O. ensures that resources reach credible, community-rooted organizations in a timely manner — and that deployment is structured, accountable, and strategically aligned.
Our Role
In response to escalating housing instability, food insecurity, rising prices, and human and civil rights violations driven by public policy decisions, community organizations and faith-based groups are stepping in to provide rapid, frontline support. Despite their critical role, many of these groups rely on ad hoc fundraising and informal networks and lack the communications infrastructure, development capacity, and access to philanthropic networks needed to secure consistent and timely support.
The Community Organized addresses this by enabling funders to support grassroots and community organizations and providing strategic coordination to groups delivering essential services to maximize their impact. We ensure resources reach the people doing the work and provide guidance, synchronization, and communications support to strengthen their efforts.
The Convergence
The economic situation for many people living in the United States is getting progressively more and more dire, while basic human rights are being eroded – creating a nexus of crises for millions of people.
Hunger is being engineered.
- 47.9 million Americans live in food-insecure households. 14.1 million are children.
- 4.2 million people lost SNAP between January 2025 and January 2026 — a 10% national drop.
- In November 2025, SNAP paused for the first time in its history. People went hungry.
- The USDA announced it would stop publishing its “Household Food Security in the United States” report in 2025.
Prices are skyrocketing.
- The cost of food has increased by 32% since 2020.
- The USDA predicts the price of sugar to increase by 6.7% in 2026, beef by 5.5%, and non-alcoholic beverages by 5.2%.
- The price of food is increasing at a significantly higher rate than wages (3.4% for civilian workers and 3.3% for those in private industry over the same period).
- Rent has increased by 44% since 2019, outpacing the Consumer Price Index (31%)
What we do
The Community Organized provides a bridge between funders and local groups to ensure those on the front lines have the financial support and supplies their communities need during these times.
- Major gifts are pooled into a dedicated charitable fund at artsfunds.org, a 501(c)3.
- A small advisory committee can recommend grantees against written criteria: geographic urgency, accountability and transparent bookkeeping, community-rooted leadership, strategic fit with existing networks.
- Two funding tracks:
- Rapid Response (30–90 days): emergency support for legal defense, food distribution, bail funds, hygiene supplies, and immediate organizing needs.
- Capacity & Infrastructure (6–12 months): organizer stipends, communications systems, planning capacity, and cross-community convenings.
- Quarterly impact reports to donors. Outputs (funds deployed, communities served) and stabilization outcomes (capacity retained, coordination strengthened).
- Annual independent review
Who we are
Co-founded by Amy Galland and Winnie Wong, The Community Organized builds on more than four decades of combined experience in organizing, grantmaking, strategic communications, and movement infrastructure. Their work spans community-development venture capital, corporate accountability, multistakeholder coalition building, grassroots digital mobilization, and directing resources to community-rooted initiatives with measurable impact.
Amy Galland, Co-Founder and Board Member
Amy brings two decades of building strategies for corporate accountability, multistakeholder coalitions, and strategic grantmaking. Worked alongside community members mobilizing to stop fossil-based infrastructure projects and with faith leaders to safeguard human rights. She holds a PhD and MBA from UCLA, an MA from Stanford, and BA from Tufts University and is the founder of artsfunds.org.
Winnie Wong, Co-Founder and Board Member
Winnie is a political strategist and movement-builder. Co-founder of Occupy Wall Street and People for Bernie. Senior Political Advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, 2020. Two decades of frontline experience in grassroots organizing, digital strategy, and movement infrastructure. Graduate of Emerson College and holds a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Make a Donation
The people doing this work can’t wait. Neither can the communities they serve. To make a major gift, please email us at contact@the-co.org for wire and bank transfer details — this is our preferred method for significant contributions as it ensures the full amount reaches the fund. For all other gifts, you can donate online at the link below.
Thank you for joining us in supporting one another during these times.
Join the Community
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Contact us
If you would like to speak with us about making a donation or have other questions, please email us at contact@the-co.org.
